Tigers' Joe Nathan can't catch a break: Do I need to go to church more, say more prayers? What do I need to do?'

“You hope. You hope. And then you start to go, ‘What is going on right now with me?’ Do I need to go to church more, say more prayers? What do I need to do?” said the Detroit Tigers’ veteran closer, who was tagged with the 5-3 loss against the Blue Jays on Tuesday, matching his career high for earned runs allowed as a reliever.

He came into a scoreless game, and left to a chorus of boos.

When things started to unravel in Tuesday’s ninth inning — a borderline 2-2 pitch, followed by a borderline 3-2 pitch in the leadoff walk to Anthony Gose; bouncing a pitch to Jose Reyes that allowed Gose to steal second easily; a missed pickoff at third base that was reviewed and upheld; a missed pickoff at first base; the grounder up the middle out of the reach of both middle infielders — it looked like things were weighing on the veteran.

“Fortunately, I think I’m past that, to be honest with you. I’m at a point in my career — there’s things that can surprise you in this game. I’ve seen a lot. I’m going through a bad stretch right now, but fortunately — I’ve seen a lot of stuff, put up with a lot of things, and have dealt with a lot of stuff, and I know that the important thing is, right now, the most important thing in my mind, and why I came to this baseball club is to be in first place,” said Nathan, the active leader in saves, who has not asked out of the closer’s role, despite four blown saves and a 6.86 ERA.

“I can care less if I go out there with an 18 ERA, as long as at the end of the day, we go to the playoffs, and we got a chance to go to the World Series. That’s why I came here. If I have an 18, and we go to the World Series, I’m a happy camper.”

“Trust me, I don’t give a (crap) about that. Pardon my French. They can boo me all they want. I am my biggest critic,” Nathan said. “No one will put myself down more than I do. So as much as they feel like they’re being tough on me, I’m way tougher on myself.”

Still, it helps when someone can see something from the outside that even a veteran like Nathan can’t see. It goes back to a discussion the veteran had in Texas with Derek Lowe.

“We were talking when he was over with Texas, briefly. He said ‘You know, it’s tough, when you get older, everyone thinks you know it all, and when you struggle, you’re going to figure everything out yourself.’ It’s nice having eyes outside of yourself,” Nathan said. “Because a lot of times when you’re on the mound, you see things that are a lot different, and it’s nice having somebody else that can tell you the truth, and not be afraid to come up and go ‘You saw it this way, but it’s wrong.’”

At least the closer was able to get some confirmation that he wasn’t seeing something incorrectly.

“It’s always nice to have, especially a guy that’s been around like Jeff Jones to come up and say, ‘Listen, I’m seeing exactly what you’re seeing. You’re fine.’ He came up today and said ‘I’ve seen some bad luck, then I’ve seen what’s happened in the past week with you. I wish I had some words of wisdom, some things to change to change what’s going on, but sometimes you just have to keep your head up, keep plugging along,’” said Nathan, who had the pitching coach sit down next to him for a brief conversation and a laugh.

“Sometimes, that’s all you can do, is laugh. This game is ... it’s an S.O.B. sometimes. It’s tough. Sometimes, the results — and with us, the results are so important. Sometimes, we have to take a step back, and say ‘Listen, results are not everything.’ Sometimes, you just have to make a pitch, and hope that’s enough.”

It was not enough on Tuesday.

Even when he did make pitches.

He made two pitches he thought might get Gose out. Neither did.

He made a pitch to Melky Cabrera, and got a pop-up.

“I’m in a position where — tough spot, but get the pop-up on Cabrera. It’s a big out. I get Cabrera, I got a chance. I got a chance to get out of it,” Nathan said.

He made a pitch to get a grounder from Jose Bautista, but it rolled right past the bag, and right between the middle infielders. Was it a double-play ball? Maybe.

“No, it’s a tough play. It’s one of those plays where, did I make a pitch? Absolutely. Did I get the result I wanted to, a ground ball? Absolutely. But unfortunately, it was put into position where, right into a spot where both fielders were kind of going after it, and I think it got into a spot where it was confusing which one would get it.”

“Nope. No confusion,” shortstop Andrew Romine said. “Got through. It shouldn’t have gotten through and it got through.”

Nathan made a pickoff throw to third that he thought had picked off the speedy outfielder. The safe call was reviewed and upheld. Bautista smartly took second on the throw to third, as the Tigers were arguing the call with the umpire, without time being called.

“Unfortunately, from there, a lot of things — you know, the close play on the pickoff, the checked swing that didn’t go. A lot of things that, results-wise, look bad, but I gotta pay attention to positives, and keep my head up, and think about how good I threw the baseball. Not a lot of guys squared the ball up very good tonight,” Nathan said.

“Just keep plugging forward. This game is not always about results, it’s about where you think you are, throwing the baseball.